In college I loved the aspect of long winter breaks. However, as a graduate student my perspective has entirely changed. I actually enjoy my classes, I like researching projects, reading case studies, and attending industry events. After a relaxing month off with where I sat shirtless on the beach in South Florida one week and bundled up for a ski trip in the Poconos the next I’m eager to start my next semester. Today marks the start of the spring semester where I’ll be taking 4 classes, 2 of which will be going toward the completion of tier II, 1 toward the completion of tier III, and 1 towards the beginning of my concentration in development.
Corporate Finance – This course is a study of the decision making process by financial management in a corporate environment. It includes an examination of the costs of capital, capital pricing methods and applications of net present value in business and valuation decisions. Students review the factors involved in the issuance of capital stock, the role of venture capital, initial public offerings, investment banking, application of the option pricing theory, warrants and convertible securities and corporate dividend policies. Also covered are corporate, foreign and Euro bonds and debt financing in general. The role of the public equity and debt markets to real estate pricing and finance is included.
I’m really looking forward to this course, as my knowledge in this area is certainly lacking. A perk of the course is that each week the professor will email the latest Commercial Mortgage Alert.
Negotiation and Dispute Resolution – This course presents an examination of major negotiation theories, strategies and tactics as applied to real estate and construction transactions and disputes. Proposed and completed transactions are analyzed cheap prescription drugs without prescription before or after each negotiation process as a benchmark for measuring the effectiveness of negotiators. Alternative dispute resolution techniques examined and practiced in the course include mediation, arbitration, and litigation settlement techniques. Students also review the defense of claims, liens and law suits. The role of ethics in professional practice is addressed.
This should be an interesting class,although given the length of the program, I’m not sure this should be its own course. I’ll check back in later in the semester.
Real Estate Capital Markets – This course identifies the sources of debt and equity capital for commercial real estate, and the vehicles by which this capital is delivered to the property markets. In covering these topics, the course analyzes the ‘four quadrants’ of capital: private debt, public debt, private equity and public equity, including class discussions and exercises in the structure and pricing of CMBS and CRE CDO, and the performance and valuation metrics of equity REITs.
This course comes at a very interesting time. I want to share a snippet from an email I received from the professor that gets me excited for this course: “It is unrealistic to disregard the noise of the current financial crisis, but, to the extent possible, we will deal with the sources of debt and equity capital for commercial real estate and the processes by which this capital has been directed to commercial property in the past, and will be again when the markets recover. As we progress, we will not only not ignore the crisis, but rather we will look at the forces that caused it and the ways in which government and market forces are attempting to resolve it”
Land Use and Environmental Regulation – This course addresses in detail the full range of federal, state and local governmental regulations that a developer may have to deal with relating to issues such as water, air and hazardous materials. It also covers regional land use regulatory programs such as those found in select states, and local subdivision, zoning and special purpose ordinances. Emphasis would be on identifying what measures apply to a given project, formulating a strategy for addressing each, and understanding the reasons for their adoption.
Required Text – Cases and Materials on Land Use, 4th Edition
I’m ready for the start of another exciting semester. I can’t picture a better time to be getting into the business, with the optimism of a new year fresh on the brain.
Do you think 2010 will be a good year for real estate investors?
Similar Posts:
- NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate Program Overview and my Spring Semester Schedule
- NYU Schack Fall Semester Schedule
- NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate Fall Semester Schedule
